First there was the Prada phone from Korean electronics giant LG. Set to be first to market, the fashion phone comes with features similar to those adopted later by Apple’s smart phone. Now along comes Samsung with its Ultra Smart F700, which the company claims illustrates how future smart phones will look and feel like.

Equipped with the VibeTonz from Immersion Corp., the F700’s large touch-screen comes with tactile feedback for on-screen interactions. This makes the touch-screen buttons feel like mechanical buttons. At this point, I just want to ask: So why use a touch-screen display in the first place?

Anyway, the phone offers a long list of features including download speeds of up to 7.2Mbps, Bluetooth, and a 5-megapixel camera with auto-focus. Featuring a full HTML browser and other Internet capabilities, the phone promises a full-flavor online experience each time its users access the Web.

Meanwhile, in other smart phone developments, Hewlett-Packard has introduced the HP iPAQ 500 series Voice Messenger smart phone. Windows Mobile 6-equipped, the latest from HP comes with voice over Internet protocol and push e-mail capabilities. Moreover, voice commands enable users to perform a long list of hands-free operations.

Research In Motion Ltd., meanwhile, has announced the BlackBerry 8800 e-mail phone. RIM is touting the 8800 as its thinnest multi-function smart phone yet. It sports a front trackball first seen on the BlackBerry Pearl, a smart phone designed for consumers.

Without a doubt, this is one of the most exciting times ever for smart phone users. No wonder, some corporate users are like kids set loose at a candy store.

iTunes’ European Rival

Finally, a Europe-based enterprise saw the light and realized the folly of fighting Apple’s iTunes with lawsuits and other government-sanctioned trade actions. According to an AP story, British mobile music operator Omnifone has launched MusicStation, a music downloading service targeting mobile phone users.

Charging subscribers 1.99 pounds or roughly .88 per week, the online music store offers unlimited downloads. Omnifone plans to launch the service in Europe and Asia. The company announced partnerships with 23 mobile phone operators with about 690 million subscribers in 40 countries.

Portable Windmills

With windmills this small, one can be forgiven for expecting to see a minuscule Don Quixote tilting at them. But though they are not as massive as their giant cousins populating windmill farms that power some of the more sustainable cities, these inches-long windmills are capable of generating electricity to power various low-voltage applications.

Designed by University of Texas Arlington scientists, these windmills use piezoelectric structures to convert wind energy into electricity. They are so efficient, requiring wind speeds as low as 5.4mph to work.

I really wish I had a couple of them last week when my friendly electric cooperative cut off my power line two days before I received a disconnection notice.

Sharp’s LCD Fall

Sharp, the Japanese electronics giant that pioneered the manufacture of liquid crystal display television sets, tumbled from the LCD TV market’s top spot in the fourth quarter of 2006. Data from market research firm iSuppli revealed that Korean consumer electronics manufacturer Samsung is now the market’s top vendor.

According to the same report, Sharp now occupies the market’s fourth spot. That is a rather hard fall for one who virtually created the LCD market. It is somewhat reminiscent of Team USA’s loss to the Greek basketball team during last year’s FIBA World Championships.

That’s all for the meantime, folks. Join me again next time as we keep on watching IT. (Allan D. Francisco)